Crafts to Japan: "The problem is not in the price"   

Japan is seen as a potential market for handicraft items. However, many enterprises Vietnam has been consuming less energy, but not yet to set foot into this difficult market.

At the conference "Promoting exports of handicrafts with high added value in Japan", was held on 23/2, much experience has been introduced to the business community in Vietnam.

Hiroshi Sakamoto, an expert on interior decoration of the AJC (Center for the Promotion of Trade, Investment and Tourism ASEAN - Japan) said that 3 factors that Japanese consumers are interested in are: product is made of what materials, manufacturers use what method to create products and products demonstrates how traditional. In particular, three factors are the most important things, so they always require products made to have "soul" and bring its own unique features.

Therefore, "to dominate the market in Japan, Vietnam enterprises should concentrate on producing good quality products and have high value uses in everyday life, not mass production because the barriers to the competitiveness of the products coming from China, "Hiroshi Sakamoto shared.

Furthermore, the Japanese consumer products are often seasonal, product life cycle is very short, should now be very quick in responding to the needs of the market and on-time delivery.

She Sigeri Mochizuki, business planners, business Chamber of Keio Department Store Company Co., Ltd. and Ms. Setsuko Okura, CEO of the company Osmic Ltd., it said that the majority of Japanese consumers do not like the products crafts style ASEAN. Common interests of the Japanese people toward the design style of the West, based on the tastes of Europe or the Americas.

Accordingly, ASEAN exporters to supply products for Western-style market, but to modify the size, color specifications and to fit better with the style and living environment of the Japanese . Currently, many of them living in the apartment area is quite narrow.

The Japanese are also very strict requirements on quality of handicraft products. Products must be beautiful and well-appointed, the outside, the top and bottom of the product must be done carefully as such. Elegant color, not flashy, not too dark or too dark.

For goods like warm ceramic bowls, dishes, in addition to ensuring food safety must also thinner and lighter than many elderly Japanese, while rows of Bat Trang ceramics Vietnam was considered and heavy crude.

So to know the latest consumer trends in Japan, businesses need regular access to the retailer's website here.

For furniture, he Tokayoshi Nagashima, president of the company AIK, cum editor of Home Living - Furniture newspapers are common in Japan, this item is quite a large proportion of the volume of internal - external Furniture imports into Japan, with imports averaged $ 1.5 billion / year. In particular, imports from Vietnam are mainly items of wooden furniture for bedrooms, kitchens and offices. However, the Vietnam now only stop at follow orders, not many unique designs to attract customers.

However, the Japanese importers still tend to importing furniture from China to imports from Vietnam because the country's only good in the first few years, as the later increasingly problematic. Prices of products due to rising labor costs accelerated recently. In Vietnam, the human production of furniture and interior decoration is quite skilled and labor costs are relatively cheaper than other countries in the region.

According to Mr. Nagashima, to enter the Japanese market problem is not the price that is at the stage of product design. The difficulty is how to develop new products, exclusive, found many new uses for the product.

Besides, Japanese people prefer products made of materials with environmentally friendly, products that combine many different materials such as ceramics combined with lacquer, wood combined with metal ...